Young Geographers Go Green: Acting Out Global Warming
This is a practical activity for you to try out with your class. You might want to ADOPT it as it is or you may
want to ADAPT it to suit your particular pupil and school contexts.
Understanding climate change involves some complex thinking for adults so it is especially challenging to
tackle this with young children. But, given the right support they can begin to make connections and gradually
gain some awareness of what is involved. Research has shown that children as young as seven are already
concerned about the problems they hear about in the news, such as climate change (Holden 2007), so it is
important that we tackle these uncertain and often frightening ideas and provide an agenda of hope. One key
idea is to enable pupils to realise that there might be many possible futures out there rather than one which is
already set and that how we act and think today can make a difference tomorrow.
Thinking about global warming is complex – what do your pupils already know about the processes involved
and how will you find out? Jot down some key vocabulary that you want to explore with your pupils.
Acting out global warming
Prior Knowledge
The first time I tackled this subject I found that there was much new vocabulary needed that pupils found
difficult to grasp so in subsequent teaching I tried to ensure that pupils had some previous experience of some
of the key terms.
Key Vocabulary
Energy, gas, carbon dioxide, atmosphere, fossil fuels, generate, renewable
Learning Objectives
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

To be able to describe in simple terms how 'global warming' happens
To begin to understand how energy use is linked to global warming
To know that there are things we can do to reduce our energy use
Learning Outcomes
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
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I know that when we burn coal gas or oil, a gas is released called carbon dioxide
I know that too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a cause of global warming
I know that if we use less energy from coal, gas or oil we can help to reduce global warming
Resources
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A large room such as a PE hall
Additional resources might include a presentation 'What is global warming' suitable for older pupils that can
be downloaded onto your IWB from http://www.ashdenawards.org/schools/activities and the accompanying
set of teacher notes which give details of the mechanisms behind global warming if you need additional prior
knowledge.
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Young Geographers Go Green
Natural
Greenhouse
effect
Heat radiates
from the earth
Atmosphere
has more
greenhouse
gases
Enhanced
Greenhouse
effect
Heat radiates
from the earth
Less heat
goes out
to space
Some heat
goes out to
space
Atmosphere traps
some heat
Quite a lot of heat
is trapped and the
earth is warm
enough for life.
Atmosphere traps
more heat
More heat is
trapped and
causes global
warming
'What is global warming?' Image of animated diagram of global warming from www.ashdenawards.org.uk
Organisation



Whole class for initial brainstorm (individual responses from older pupils)
Whole class for watching the film and the follow up drama activity
Mixed ability groups for brainstorming new knowledge and questions after taking part in the drama
Teaching the session
Make sure that you are familiar with the film and its content and have some questions that you want the
children to focus on.
I started by asking if anyone knew what 'global warming' meant. Initial comments were very negative and
revealed that many pupils were quite worried about this, for example 'all the ice is melting and the land will
disappear', 'the world is going to end'. We brainstormed ideas together first of all and I gave them time to have
'talking partners' before responding to some of my prompt questions. Older pupils can work alone to draw and
/ or write their initial ideas as a brainstorm - this will give a base assessment line - but it's useful to begin with a
whole class discussion.
Show the film and use your own prepared questions during or afterwards to prompt the pupils, challenge
misconceptions and support understanding.
Drama
Game 1: Using a large space, choose one person to be in the centre of the room as 'the world', and another six
pupils who will be curled up close by as buried coal. Then have about 10 children as 'heat energy' who have
come to earth from the sun and are now circulating around the earth finding their way back out to space. But
they have to pass through the atmosphere - this is a loose circle of about 12 children who will try to 'tag' them
as they pass through. Ideally, a few will pass through whilst some will be left. This is the natural greenhouse
effect - heat arrives from the sun and some finds its way back out to space leaving the earth warm enough to
support life.
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Young Geographers Go Green
Now wake the sleeping 'coal' and explain that they have been dug up and burnt as fuel for energy, and that
they now have to become the carbon dioxide that is part of what is made by doing this - they will have to join
the atmosphere circle. The pupils acting as 'heat energy' now have to try and leave the earth again - even less
will be able to get through because the atmosphere has more carbon dioxide in it or rather more pupils to tag
them as they try to slip through.
Game 2: A follow up activity is to split the pupils into two groups - 'trees' and 'carbon dioxide', with the latter
group having the larger number. Explain that as trees breathe in carbon dioxide they capture this gas from the
atmosphere and set up this scenario either as a game of tag or as a more detailed drama. By varying the
number of trees and carbon dioxide in repeat versions of this activity it's possible to visualise a relationship
between the number of trees and the CO2 in the atmosphere.
Plenary
In mixed ability groupings, ask pupils to discuss the lesson and to think of some practical things they could do
themselves and be ready to explain to the class how this might help - remind pupils of the success criteria.
Give each group some feedback time to the class and collect new questions for follow up work.
Where next?
It's important that pupil ideas are taken seriously - a genuine participatory approach will debate what is
possible and take steps to ensure that an idea or ideas are carried out. If you don't already have an energy
team in your class or school for example this would be a good place to start. It's a really good idea if the lesson
can end with at least one agreed action that the class can take as a community working together.
The big ideas or concepts that underpin geography will help you apply a geographical lens to this activity.
Reference
Holden, C. (2007) 'Young people's concerns' in Hicks, D. & Holden, C. (Eds) Teaching the Global Dimension: key
principles and effective practices London: Routledge
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Young Geographers Go Green